FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION 237 



crop after it has matured too much to be palatable, and probably 

 to start on the succeeding one while it is still a little too green. 

 It is difficult to plan exactly so as to prevent these conditions. 

 With silage, however, the crop can be cut at the best stage foe 

 feeding and preserved at that point. 



One of the most important uses of silage in the summer is 

 as a supplement for short or poor pasture. This condition fre- 

 quently occurs as a result of long-continued dry weather. Under 

 such circumstances even the most carefully planned soiling sys- 

 tem may fail. It is then that the greatest value of the summer 

 silo is realized for with the silo full of well matured silage 

 grown in the previous season, an abundant supply of succulent 

 feed for the cows is available, regardless of weather conditions. 



When it is not necessary to use the silo during the summer, 

 it can be sealed up and the silage preserved for winter use. This 

 prevents any waste of feed; 



One point, however, must be kept in mind in planning the 

 summer silo. This is the diameter of the silo in relation to the 

 number of cows to be fed and the quantity to be fed to each 

 cow. Silage enough must be fed daily to prevent excessive sur- 

 face fermentation. As a general rule, a cow under summer con- 

 ditions will consume about 20 pounds a day. On this basis the 

 diameter of the silo in reference to the number of cows to be 

 fed in summer will be as follows : 



20 cows 8 feel in diameter 



30 cows 10 feet in diameter 



40 cows 12 feet in diameter 



Inasmuch as 8 feet is about the minimum diameter of a silo 

 in best practice, it will be seen that the summer silo for supple- 

 menting pasture has its best application in herds of 20 cows or 

 more. 



Winter Feeding. 



The problems involved in winter feeding are usually dis- 

 tinctly different from those of summer feeding. Pasture (or 

 green feed), usually the basis of summer feeding, is not avail- 



